During this visit, you should work with one or more groups of students if you haven't already, and observe your teacher doing the same. For this journal entry, describe your teacher's teaching style. What type of relationships with students does he or she nurture in his or her classes? How do students perceive that power is distributed in the classes? Does this vary within or across the different classes the teacher has? Cite examples from your observations to support your inferences. Remember to reflect on what style of teaching you will gravitate toward and the how you want to be perceived by your students.
I feel that my CT's teaching style is mostly laid back yet affirmative. She never yells at her class, but always has control. Students feel comfortable enough in her class to ask for help, ask questions, and to participate in the discussion at hand. My CT fosters very strong relationships with her students. She is constantly asking them about things outside school, for example: How did your game go the other night? How are the college visits going? Hows that new cute boyfriend of yours? What did you do this weekend? and more. She makes a conscientious effort to get to know the students in each of her classes on a personal level. For example, she makes a poster board with pictures of each student and a little paragraph that the students write about themselves, and then posts them around the room. She explained to me that this helps her get to know the student's name and something about them so she can relate to them. I feel that the students in her classroom know that she is the power in the classroom. She makes the ultimate decisions, but she is kind and listens to what the students have to say, but makes the decision in the end. I noticed that for the most part her teaching style stays the same throughout her different classes. I did notice that when she is teaching her "team classes", the students that are not honors level or college prep, she is more patient and more firm. She restates directions with this class more, and makes sure to monitor their classroom work more closely. She asks more understanding questions. She tends to give this class more guidence than her college prep and honors level courses. For example, the students must complete a science fair project as part of their graduation requirements. The honors level and college prep classes were allowed to choose a science fair project of their choice, while the team class were given a limited list to choose from. My CT says she does this because of prior experience and she knows that without guidence the students may not choose a hard enough or appropriate topic.
I want to have a very similar style of teaching in my own classroom. I want students to feel comfortable enough to ask any questions, come to me for extra help, and to come to me if they have problems outside of school. I want to foster very strong relationships with my students, that is not soley based on school. I want to connect with my students on a personal basis, so they feel like i genuinely care about them. I want students to respect me and I will show the same amount of respect for them. I want students to understand that I value their opinion about my classroom, but in the end, I am the authority figure and I make the decisions. I want students to perceive me as a caring, respectful, and knowledgeable teacher. I want students to think that I am fair. I want to be a role model to my students in how they should live their lives and show them that learning is a life long process that does not stop after high school or college.
I feel that my CT's teaching style is mostly laid back yet affirmative. She never yells at her class, but always has control. Students feel comfortable enough in her class to ask for help, ask questions, and to participate in the discussion at hand. My CT fosters very strong relationships with her students. She is constantly asking them about things outside school, for example: How did your game go the other night? How are the college visits going? Hows that new cute boyfriend of yours? What did you do this weekend? and more. She makes a conscientious effort to get to know the students in each of her classes on a personal level. For example, she makes a poster board with pictures of each student and a little paragraph that the students write about themselves, and then posts them around the room. She explained to me that this helps her get to know the student's name and something about them so she can relate to them. I feel that the students in her classroom know that she is the power in the classroom. She makes the ultimate decisions, but she is kind and listens to what the students have to say, but makes the decision in the end. I noticed that for the most part her teaching style stays the same throughout her different classes. I did notice that when she is teaching her "team classes", the students that are not honors level or college prep, she is more patient and more firm. She restates directions with this class more, and makes sure to monitor their classroom work more closely. She asks more understanding questions. She tends to give this class more guidence than her college prep and honors level courses. For example, the students must complete a science fair project as part of their graduation requirements. The honors level and college prep classes were allowed to choose a science fair project of their choice, while the team class were given a limited list to choose from. My CT says she does this because of prior experience and she knows that without guidence the students may not choose a hard enough or appropriate topic.
I want to have a very similar style of teaching in my own classroom. I want students to feel comfortable enough to ask any questions, come to me for extra help, and to come to me if they have problems outside of school. I want to foster very strong relationships with my students, that is not soley based on school. I want to connect with my students on a personal basis, so they feel like i genuinely care about them. I want students to respect me and I will show the same amount of respect for them. I want students to understand that I value their opinion about my classroom, but in the end, I am the authority figure and I make the decisions. I want students to perceive me as a caring, respectful, and knowledgeable teacher. I want students to think that I am fair. I want to be a role model to my students in how they should live their lives and show them that learning is a life long process that does not stop after high school or college.